Mariachi

First Day of Issue Date: July 15, 2022

First Day of Issue Location: Albuquerque, NM

Filled with passion, rhythm, and stories of life, love, and loss, mariachi music is an integral element of Mexican American culture that has found fans around the world.

Each of the five new stamps features a musician dressed in traje de charro, the traditional outfit of mariachi performers, playing one of five iconic mariachi instruments: guitar, guitarrón, vihuela, violin, and trumpet. The geometric shapes in the background of each stamp are a nod to Mexican villages where mariachi music originated. The digital illustrations started as rough sketches on paper, with the textures and colors added digitally. The artist used vibrant colors that evoke Mexican culture and capture the buoyant yet nostalgic feeling of mariachi music.

“Mariachi” refers to several things: to the music itself; to an individual musician or an ensemble of musicians; and, used as an adjective, to anything identified with the music, be it dance or costume or culture.

Though mariachi’s exact origins are obscure, it appears to have begun in western Mexico, where itinerant musicians made their living traveling from village to village to perform. The music of early mariachi included folk traditions from Spain, Mexico, and Africa that melded to create a new indigenous musical form, the son, which developed various regional styles.

While mariachi music had been in the United States for many years, by the 1960s, American churches, schools, and universities began to develop and sponsor mariachi programs that produced new generations of musicians and enthusiasts. Immigrants to various parts of the U.S. created vibrant regional mariachi cultures that widened the appeal of this traditional music to new audiences. In addition, the American mariachi movement is being disseminated by first, second, and third-generation Mexican Americans as a way of expressing ethnic pride and of staying connected to their heritage.

Mariachi bands traditionally used the round-backed guitar called the vihuela, which gives the mariachi music its rhythmic vitality; the guitarrón, which is a bass guitar; and the Mexican folk harp, the arpa. By the 1940s and 1950s, the modern urban mariachi sound emerged with the expanded instrumentation including violins and trumpets. Today, ensembles continue to broaden the use of instruments, with some groups adding six to eight violins, two to four trumpets, an accordion, and the arpa, which had fallen out of use but has made a comeback among professional groups.

In recognition of the importance and widespread appeal of mariachi music and culture, in 2011, UNESCO added them to the list “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

Rafael López designed the stamps and created the art. Derry Noyes art directed the project.

The Mariachi stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps in panes of 20. These Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.

First Day of Issue Ceremony Video

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Sheet of 20 Stamps

Filled with passion, rhythm, and stories of life, love, and loss, mariachi music is an integral element of Mexican American culture with fans worldwide. These five new Forever stamps capture the color, excitement, and vibrancy of a movement that is deeply rooted in the United States.

$12.60

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First Day Cover

Celebrate a unique style of Mexican music with this new set of five Mariachi First Day Covers. Each #6 ¾ envelope bears one affixed Forever® stamp cancelled with an official First Day of Issue postmark.

Dressed in traje de charro, the traditional outfit of mariachi performers, each of the five musicians on the stamps plays one of mariachi’s iconic instruments: guitar, guitarrón, vihuela, violin, and trumpet.

The pictorial postmark features a mariachi dancer. Also included is the stamp title, as well as the date and location of stamp issuance: July 15, 2022, Albuquerque, NM, 87101.

$5.75

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Digital Color Postmark

Celebrate a unique style of Mexican music with this new set of five Mariachi Digital Color Postmark First Day Covers. Each #6 ¾ envelope bears one affixed Forever® stamp cancelled with an official First Day of Issue postmark.

The digital color postmark evokes the spirit of mariachi with its vibrant colors and stylized guitar. Also included is the stamp title, and the date and location of stamp issuance: July 15, 2022, Albuquerque, NM, 87101.

$10.00

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Press Sheet with Die-Cuts

Celebrate a unique style of Mexican music with this new 11.84(w) x 23.325(h)-inch press sheet, containing six sheets of Mariachi Forever® stamps positioned two across by three down.

$75.60

Purchase

Press Sheet without Die-Cuts

Celebrate a unique style of Mexican music with this new 11.84(w) x 23.325(h)-inch press sheet, containing six sheets of Mariachi Forever® stamps positioned two across by three down.*

*The stamps on these sheets do not contain perforations for mail use.

$75.60

Purchase

Framed Stamp - Guitarrón Player

Celebrate a unique style of Mexican music with this new 12.5(w) x 15.5(h)-inch framed piece, which features the art from the Mariachi (guitarrón) stamp, and includes a strip of five, mounted Forever® stamps and the First Day of Issue details.